I think the key is to not worry about it now and don't get sucked into the dynamic where parents make it all about them.
Don't forget it's not a roller coaster - you can choose what level your child swims or competes at and, even though it can feel as though you have to do what the club says, you actually don't.
Dd is 12. She swims between 6 and 10 hours a week depending on other commitments. I have encouraged her to kep other interests. She does gym, acting and dancing too. She also does school netball and athletics.
The pressure to hit county times and then regional times can become a treadmill - some children thrive on it, some don't. And that isn't linear either. Dd had terrible health problems last year so stepped back a bit. She's training a bit more now and she already has four county times this season. It's hard to but try to follow your child.
Bear in mind too that different clubs do different things - DDs fees are about £900 per year and they would actively object to as many galas as one every three weeks. Galas are about 6 a year with training geared to peek at gala times. Her club has several national swimmers in her age group so they still operate at the top level.
We also lift share to meet, swap and pass on equipment and don't necessarily enter every event at every meet - entry for meets is usually a fiver per event so can be £15/20 or as much as £60.
Don't be put off, don't over think it. Just see where it goes and don't get sucked into the weird vortex of parents who equate their child swimming well with their being an awesome parent. There are quite a few of those.
Ps -TK maxx often do speedo and tyr costumes for about a fiver.